Process of preserving fruit.



No. 683,|l2. Patented Sept. 24, I90l. A. P. GAINES.

PROCESS OF PBESERVING FRUIT.

(Application filed. May 4, 1900.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT P. GAINES, OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS.

PROCESS OF PRESERVING FRUIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 683,112, datedSeptember 24, 1901.

Application filed May 4, 1900. Serial No. 15,525. (No specimens.)

To (all whom it 111.0 1 concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT P. GAINES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fayettcville, in the county of \Vashington and State ofArkansas, have invented a new and useful Process of Preserving Fruit, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to preserving processes in general, and moreparticularly to processes for preserving fruits, the particular objectof the invention being to provide a process by which the fruit may bepreserved by drying without materially lessening the weight of thefruit.

A further object of the invention is to so treat the fruit that it willbe insured against decay and in which the fruit will not requiresweetening when finally prepared for the table.

I am aware that in the usual process of canning fruits the fruits areboiled or stewed in a syrup; but after this step of the process thefruits are placed in jars and immersed in a syrup and are then in acondition to be used only after the manner of ordinary preserves and notafter the manner of dried fruits.

The present process consists in boiling the fruit in a bath of meltedsugarin viscid condition produced by the indirect application of steamheat to the sugar and then in drying the fruit to expel the moisturetherefrom.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, thereis illustrated one form of apparatus capable of carrying out theprocess, it being understood that other apparatus may be employed andstill be within the scope of the invention, and in the drawing thefigure is a view in sectional elevation, showing diagrammatically anapparatus by which sugar may be reduced to a syrupy mass by theapplication of indirectlyapplied steam heat.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates a, boiler; 2, a kettle; 3, awater-reservoir; 4:, a

Water-supply pipe leading from the reservoir and connecting with theboiler near the bottom thereof, and 5 a steam-exhaust pipe leading fromthe reservoir and connecting with the boiler near the top thereof andoperating to convey steam from the boiler and discharge it into thereservoir, where it llS condensed and may be reused. Thepipe 4 isprovided with an ordinary valve 6, by which to control the supply ofwater to the boiler, a pipe 7, carrying a valve 8, being connected withthe reservoir to supply the same with water. The upper edge of theboiler is provided with an inturned flange 9,whiel1 bears against theside of the kettle and holds the same from contact with the sides of theboiler, thereby to permit application of steam to the entire body of thekettle. is provided with an outturned flange 10 to rest upon the flange9 of the boiler and is closed by a suitable cover 11. The boiler isshown as resting upon a plate 12, which represents the top of a stove orother heating device.

In operating in accordance with the present process a quantity ofgranulated sugar is placed in the kettle and heat is then applied to theboiler, thereby generating steam therein, which operates to heat thekettle and melt the contained sugar to produce the viscid syrupdescribed. The fruit is then cut to proper size and is peeled, or may beuncut and peeled, or may be unpeeled, according to the natureof thefruit and the conditions to be secured. The fruit is then placed in thesyrup, and the syrup. is boiled for twentyfive minutes or thirty minutesor approximately that long, and when the boiling operation is completedthe fruit is taken from the syrup and is dried. After being thoroughlydried the fruit is ready for shipment, and in preparing for the table itis only necessary to cook in a small quantity of water to make apalatable stew. The syrup in the boiler becomes strongly impregnatedwith the fla vor of the fruit and may-be drawn oli' and congealed toform a fine quality of jelly. The loss of weight usually incident to thedrying process is avoided, and the finished product has nearly the sameweight as the raw fruit, the lossin weight of water being compensatedfor approximately by the gain in sugar, there being used from three tofive, pounds of sugar to each bushel of fruit. In treating apples onpeaches by this process the boiling is maintained until the fruitbecomes clear, which condition indicates that the boiling step of theprocess is at an-end, and it is of course understood that differentfruits may The kettle be given different specific treatment under theprocess. The termviscid syrup here employed has been selected as bestdefining the product obtained by treating sugar with indirectly-appliedsteam heat, as described, and it is to be understood that the above termis intended to define the said product from an ordinary syrup producedby boiling together sugar and water.

What is claimed is 1. The herein-described process of preserving fruit,which consists in boiling the fruit in a bath of melted sugar in viscidcondition i produced by the indirect application of steam heat to thesugar, and then in drying the fruit to expel the moisture therefrom.

